The Truth
by Nightshadetome
Summary: What if instead of Alaric being possessed by Klaus, Jenna finds out by getting curious and insulted when she finds out nearly everyone is hiding something from her. She ends up walking right into the middle of chaos.
1. Chapter 1

I'm just having fun with the characters, because I didn't like how Jenna found out and then died immediately after, so I decided to write my own version. I don't own anything though.

….

Jenna woke to sunlight streaming through her bedroom window, creating patterns through the blinds on her eyelids. She threw a hand up covering her face, and turned her head into the pillow. Today was her birthday. Elena, Jeremy, and John were fortunately the only ones who knew, and John hopefully had forgotten. She wished life could go back to how it was when she was younger; when a birthday was something to be cherished, something to be excited about. Nowadays, a birthday was a sad celebration. One year closer to death. If anything the death of Jeremy and Elena's parents was good proof of how fleeting life could be.

Groaning the 30 year old rolled to the edge of her bed, and dragged her legs one by one off the side and onto the chilly hardwood floors, before shuffling tiredly to the connecting bathroom. She had to smile to herself when she thought of Elena and Jeremy, her family. No doubt Elena had bullied Jeremy awake early to make her a good morning breakfast. The image in her head, of them all sitting around the table together eating pancakes and bacon, with the warm morning light putting spirit into their smiles, pushed the darker thoughts away as she got in the shower. They just better not have told Rick.

…

Jenna ran down the last of the stairs, nearly slipping in her socks on the second to last step, brown boots in one hand, cell phone in the other. She laughed at herself, and spun around the banister calling out to the kitchen before she reached the doorway, "Good Morning Elena!" she called, not realizing there was no telltale smell of chocolate chip pancakes, or sizzle and pop of the bacon on the stove. She turned into the kitchens entrance, and came up short.

The island sparkled, not splattered with a single drop of pancake mix. The sink was empty of used metal bowls, or frying pans. There were no egg shells on the floor, or blasting radio, no laughing Elena with a spatula, and no Jeremy was leaning helplessly against the counter eating the chocolate chips from the bag. Silence filled the room, louder than any music Elena could play so early in the morning. It was empty, and dare she think it, lonely. The smile slipped from her face quickly. She'd been presumptuous perhaps; silly to believe they only had her birthday on their minds. Still it was odd no one was up yet.

There was a loud crash on the stairs, followed by a curse and a second later John was sliding past her making a beeline for the coffee pot and rubbing his head. "Hey Jenna." He mumbled once the coffee was on its way, "Good morning." He smiled at her, leaning a hip against the counter.

She walked to the island and hopped into one of the stools there giving him a mistrustful look, "Where were you last night?" She watched him tilt his head back and rub his chin as if trying to remember himself. Then a slightly caustic chuckle left him and he lifted his eyebrows. She narrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Council emergency."

"Really?" she was intrigued, curious, "What happened?"

He shook his head taking his coffee cup to the island, "Sorry council business. I can't talk about it."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course, because Mystic Falls could possibly have such a big secret to keep." She laughed, but it died slightly when he didn't join her, only stared at her calculatingly until he was snapped out of it by his phone ringing. A glance at caller ID had him cursing again and high-tailing it out of the kitchen, abandoning his treasured coffee to the dancing dust bunnies floating along the early morning dust motes. She sat there for a second staring at the surface of the brown liquid before her curiosity got the better of her. There were questions about John she wanted answers too since he showed up on the porch. She didn't trust him, and it was her birthday. What was a little eavesdropping on her birthday? She crept past the kitchen and hid just on the inside of the hallway to the living room, as John's voice reached her ears. He sounded exasperated, if not outright pissed.

"We have a problem? We? I don't think so. I'm not surprised you do though. You two always have a problem!" he hissed into his cell phone. Jenna frowned, and leaned her head around the corner. He was standing by the couch, leaning intensely into the phone, slightly bending at the waist. Whoever was on the other end seemed to be answering.

"No!" he paced up and down shaking his head, and threw an arm out, "Damon, I am not coming over there! Why should I trust you? Besides you know how I feel about you. Why would you even think Id help you?" Jenna's jaw dropped. Why was he talking to that sleazebag? What was going on?

There was a slight pause again then, "No. Why can't you just tell me what's going on over the damn phone…. O come on you know how fast you could take the ring off me. I wouldn't stand a chance. Don't insult my intelligence… Oooh right back at you! Give me one good reason…"

He suddenly stopped; stopped pacing, stopping railing, stopped breathing altogether. It got really quiet then his breath left him with one word, "Elena?" And with that, his anger, fear, resentment deflated completely. At the mention of her niece Jenna was on immediate alert. Why in the world would John and Damon both be concerning themselves with Elena? John slouched, looking defeated, and lost. For the first time in her life she actually felt for the guy. He swallowed.

"I'll be there." That was the last thing said before he flipped the phone shut.

…

Damon stalked up the sidewalk outside the Lockwood's house, angrily dropping his phone from his ear, as that dick hung up on him. Stefan wouldn't like it if he knew he'd involved her dad, but he needed to find Katherine. Besides Stefan wouldn't find out anyway and if he did why would Damon care if his younger brother was mad? What he was about to do was 100 times worse. A crooked predatory smirk darkened his visage.

Damon leapt across the curb into the perfectly manicured lawn, and raced across the lawn. To anyone watching he would look like nothing but a blur. He crouched at the base of the house, rough brick catching on the black leather jacket he wore. He looked around from beneath his eyebrows, piercing eyes missing nothing. At the back of the property, there started the woods where the Lockwood werewolves would shift on the full moon. His focus narrowed in on a swaying branch in a nonexistent breeze, and the teenage witch ducking beneath it. He waved her over impatiently as she wasted too much time looking around her, infuriating terrified rabbit look plastered to her face. He imaged it must be the look Stefan's furry friends got right before he made them his snack. She ran to him, and immediately shot off condescending questions.

"Are you absolutely sure Damon that Tyler is not here? What about Mrs. Lockwood?"

He waved her off impatiently, "Stefan is dealing with Tyler. He's at Caroline's. I made sure last night that Mrs. Lockwood would be preoccupied for the day. I've got Sherriff Forbes on it." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, noting the decidedly judgy look she always adopted around him, "Oh come on Bonnie," he mocked her, "Live a little." She narrowed her eyes, mouth thinning, and he quickly pointed a finger at her, looked down it at her dangerously, "No witchy brain aneurism on me girl." He growled at her, "At least not now. It will be a dead giveaway I suddenly start yelling outside their house." She met his threatening look, with her own challenging glare, chin lifted, looking to all the world unafraid of Damon Salvatore. He smiled then, and patted her on the head, "That's my girl." She shook him off angrily.

"Let's just get this over with," she muttered, "Remember I'm only doing this because it's Elena. I'd never help you otherwise."

He rolled his eyes at the melodrama, "Noted."

"So how long do you think we'll have to wait?" She asked him trying not to think about her part in Mason Lockwood's inevitable death. She glanced at Damon who stared out into the distance, eyes occasionally shifting direction. He looked casual, relaxed, the picture of indifference. Sure he couldn't see her, she let one side of her mouth lift as she studied him. Could the careless and cold vampire possibly be acting? Why else would he being going through so much trouble to get rid of Masen. Sure to keep himself alive is a likely excuse, but she'd seen the way the darker brother had looked at her best friend, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She didn't like it. She didn't like the vampires at all to tell the truth, not after all she had gone through, but having Damon as an ally, was infinitely better than him as an enemy, even if ally was a loose description.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." He smirked at her. The smirk stretched into a cocky smile when she scowled at him, "Not long. I left when he did, but a werewolf in a car is quite a bit slower than a vampire on foot. You know between you and me?" he continued, finally looking over at her, "I'd say the servants of the moon got the shorter end of the curse." Funnily, she'd thought that same thing on a few occasions. The werewolves had to deal with the pain of the transformation, which according to Caroline was pretty intense. They could only be wolves on the full moon, whereas vampires were always vampires, and vampires had a way around the sun with the rings. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Damon.

"So where's Jeremy then?"

She looked out up the long driveway feeling the beginnings of nerves at the thought of what they were about to do. She forced her chin to stay raised, and determined, sure of herself. "I left him with the Grimoires'. We were looking through them trying to find where the witches were burned. If I can find the spot, I could channel the power and use it to help defeat Klaus." Just then her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pressed answer and pressed it to her ear, "Hello Jenna."

"Hi Bonnie," Jenna answered, "I was just wondering where Elena is. I can't get a hold of her on her phone, and I didn't see her before she left this morning." Bonnie frowned. It wasn't like Elena to outright avoid Jenna. She always answered her cell phone. "Yea she's with me." She answered in a split second decision. Damon slowly turned his head to stare incredulously at her, shaking his head, eyes widening then narrowing as if to yell what the heck is wrong with you. She glared back at him trying to tell him to shut up just as loudly.

"Oh, ok. That's good. I was just a little worried. You girls have fun!"

"We will. Bye Jenna."

She hung up, dropping the phone in her lap, and stared irately at Damon who was back to observing the horizon. "There are so many ways that could end badly." He left it at that.

She opened her mouth to argue with him, but dropped it. It wasn't worth it. The guy was over a hundred. Who knew? Maybe there was some wisdom in all that impulsivity and immaturity.

…..

Jeremy had three Grimoires open in front of a line of white candles. He was starting to see double in exhaustion, reading the same line two to three times before he comprehended what the book was saying. He was determined to keep going despite his heavy eyelids. He could sleep when his sister was safe from sacrificial doppelganger ceremonies and sick twisted original hybrids. Sitting up straighter he blinked rapidly a few times, and then quickly read the next paragraph; only more warnings and consequences. The more he read the more he worried about Bonnie. It bothered him that she had no one to guide her. Her Grams was dead, and he could only imagine how daunting it was to have to turn to something you barely knew to protect yourself from a vampire at every corner. He felt there was nothing he could actually do. Not just for Bonnie either, but for Elena, or Jenna. He hadn't been able to do anything for Vickie, and he wasn't even aware that Anna was in danger before she was dead. With Damon, Stefan, and even Alaric around with the abilities they had, he sometimes felt ridiculously useless.

He shook his head hard rattling his teeth, and pulled the book closer. Another thirty minutes into uninterrupted reading, he caught the tail end of something that made him scoot to the edge of his seat, suddenly wide awake. It looked like a copied memoir of one of the late Salem witches that were related to Bonnie. The name "Emily" jumped out at him from the old yellowing pages. He was so focused on the what he read, so excited at what he had finally found, that the loud rock music that suddenly blasted from his cell phone shocked him nearly out of his chair and onto the dusty floor.

He cleared his throat, trying to sound casual, "Hello?"

"Jeremy? Where are you?" It was Jenna. Guilt suddenly pooled in the pit of his stomach, making him feel terrible again. They had both gotten dragged into another dangerous vampire tug a war and now in addition to lying to her, they had forgotten Jenna's birthday in the chaos to save Elena's life.

He forced himself to sound cheerful when he said, "Happy Birthday Jenna! I'm sorry I couldn't stick around this morning. You know how much I love those chocolate chips. But I told Bonnie I'd help her clear out some old books at her house this morning."

It got quite and Jeremy started to get nervous, but then she finally responded, "Oh no, that's ok Jer. So you're with Bonnie right now?"

Uh…"Yea," he decided to go with, because technically he would be with Bonnie right now if she hadn't gone to get more of the Grimoire's from the Salvatore house that they'd found at Lucas' apartment.

"What about Elena? Have you seen…?"

"No. No I haven't seen Elena since this morning."

"Hmm." Maybe it was the lack of sleep but to Jeremy Jenna sound suspicious, "Ok well if you hear from her tell her I've been trying to get a hold of her."

"You got it Aunt Jenna."

He allowed himself only a moment to dwell on that conversation before he was calling Stefan.

…..

The clock on the far wall was hypnotic to watch as the second hand ticked out every second relentlessly. Jenna sat on the couch in the living room with her phone in her lap, going back over the conversations she'd heard and been involved in the past hour. Someone had lied to her. Damon and John were involved, but that was typical. She'd expect lies from them. They both gave her the willies. Jeremy and Bonnie were in on whatever was going on, and that made her worried. They were somehow entwined in a scheme involving Damon Salvatore. How does that work? She tore her eyes from the ticking clock, and stared at her dark phone instead. She couldn't believe that Bonnie had lied to her. It was so strange. There was one other person she wanted to call, but was worried she was bordering on pathetic psycho control freak on her birthday. Her thumb hovered over the contact hesitating for a couple seconds before she punched it. She'd already eavesdropped and called two people. If she was going to be pathetic on her birthday, she was going all out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I took so long. I had finals. If there are any mistakes tell me. I love the reviews, followers, and favorites. **

…

Caroline Forbes felt unbelievably guilty as she watched Tyler walk past her into the house. It must have shown on her face too, because Tyler noticed.

"What?" he asked, turning back towards her confused by the pained expression on her face and the continual wringing of her hands. She shut the door, noticing Stefan lurking at the end of the hall.

"I'm really sorry Tyler, but there are some things going on and..." Her eyes shifted over his shoulder, voice drifting off apologetically. Tyler stiffened, feeling another's stealthy presence just behind him. His eyes widened slightly, and he whirled around, stumbling back a couple of steps. Stefan stayed where he was, keeping his distance. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk."

Tyler felt trapped. His eyes shifted from wall to wall of the hallway, blocking any possible escape routes. He didn't trust the Salvatore's. This entire werewolf thing was still new and scary to him, and the only person he trusted even slightly was his uncle. Mason said to watch out for Damon, and Stefan; that they both had threatened him. He couldn't believe Caroline would betray him like this.

He swallowed down his nerves, taking a step back, a little further away from the potential threat. Stefan took an approaching step, lifting his arms slightly away from his body trying to look nonthreatening. Tyler nearly scoffed. Who did he think he was with that cheesy concerned look?

"We know you've been in contact with the other werewolves."

He froze at that then turned and made a move for the door. He came up short nearly plowing into Caroline who was suddenly standing between him and the only escape. "Come on Tyler. Please. You can still trust me ok? They just want to talk to you."

He stood straight, staring her in the eyes. "Get out of the way, Caroline." He snarled at her. Tears started to well in her eyes, but they didn't fall. He tried to maintain eye contact, show her he didn't care, but his eyes shift slightly to the right of her face anyway.

"We aren't the bad guys here." Stefan's voice behind him made him irritated.

"Not according to them. They said you have both killed in Mystic Falls. You don't care who you have to kill to stay alive! What about Vickie? I heard what happened. It was no animal attack. You killed her and she was innocent!" he yelled back, deciding if he was going to be trapped here he wasn't going to go down without some semblance of control over the situation.

"Technically that was Damon." Stefan said.

Tyler laughed.

"Look we just want to make sure you aren't going to suddenly devote loyalty to them and do anything stupid. There is a lot going on right now that you aren't completely aware of."

"What a surprise..." Tyler scoffed with thick sarcasm, "And you wonder why I can't trust you." He turned on his heel, ready to walk out the door, hesitantly deciding to test how far they would let him go, if they perhaps would let him simply walk out the door. "I'm out of here," he snarled, turning his back disrespectfully to the potential enemy. Stefan said he wasn't there to hurt him. He glared into Caroline's eyes, "Get out of my way Caroline." She looked questioningly over her shoulder at Stefan, before giving in when Tyler's eyes turned orange in fury. "A werewolf bite will kill a Vampire…" That's what Damon had said the lore proclaimed. Even though Damon thought it was bogus, he had brought up the wise question, a rarity where the impulsive vampire was concerned. Who was stupid enough to ignore it? And he was right, Caroline agreed, another rarity in the precarious team dynamic they all had going. Who would volunteer themselves to get bitten first? No. It was better to avoid getting bitten on the off chance that it was true. She backed up swiftly, shaking slightly. She had never wanted to alienate Tyler. He stared her down as he strode to the door, but before his hand touched the doorknob, Stefan was suddenly there in a blur, racing between Caroline and Tyler, grabbing Tyler by the back of the neck. Caroline yelped and stumbled back, surprised even with heightened reflexes, bumping into the small table by the door, and sending a vase crashing to the floor. Before Tyler could work out what had happened, Stefan had slammed him face first into the wall.

"You have nothing against me, not until the full moon, so I suggest you sit down and listen to what we have to say." Stefan growled, the veins around his eyes standing out dark against his pale skin, face jutting close and intimidating into Tyler's. Tyler's breathe rasped back in after being knocked completely out. His eyes widened in surprise and more than a little fear as he shoved back against the crushing weight against his back, but even with the supernatural strength he did have, he only got an inch away from the slightly peeling beige paint before he was slammed back into it. Stefan was stronger.

"I don't want to resort to violence, but I have a lot hanging on your cooperation." A lot. Elena's life. "I will do what I have to and if that means knocking you out and throwing you in the basement with our current unwelcome resident, so help me…"

Tyler made a face at the wall. What did that mean? What the hell was happening?

Caroline took a shocked step closer to them, and frantically reaching out with her hands, "Stefan…" she reproached him, "No! You can't put him in there with Elijah. He's my friend…" The sentence petered off lamely. Tyler made another face. Elijah? Through the adrenaline induced hyperawareness, he was conscious of his phone against his back pocket. He could try to call Jules if things took a turn for the worse, but there wasn't much to do at the moment, but follow along and bide his time. He nodded jerkily as much he could with the restricting painful grip on his neck, "Ok," his voice was slightly muffled, "Ok. Ok. Fine. Let go of me. I'll listen to you." He jerked away from the vampire, as soon as he loosened the hold. "Make it quick please."

"Can we sit down maybe?" Stefan looked over towards Caroline, who gave him an irritated look but nodded, arms folded over her chest, before twirling around, blonde curls whipping in an arch behind her as she stalked off in the direction of the living room. Stefan took up the rear, blocking any means of escape. Tyler kept his head tilted guardedly over his shoulder, eyeing the unpredictable being behind him. When he dropped down onto the couch, he made sure to fall slightly on his arm.

"Ok it's best if we start from the beginning. Yes, we are the reason Vickie is dead. I did not in any way mean or want for that to end the way it did. My brother is impulsive, more so when he first came back to Mystic Falls…"

"Back?" Tyler questioned, trying to keep up with the conversation to keep Stefan's attention preoccupied. His right hand was ever so slowly inching his cell phone out of his pocket. Tyler had only just met her but in the chaos of the last few weeks he had been desperate for any support. He had put Jules' number on speed dial. The button was punched, and he just hoped she picked up.

….

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Damon were pressed up against the side of the Lockwood house watching as the black van pulled up into the driveway. The keys were yanked and Mason leapt lithely to the ground, slamming the car door and striding up the front steps without missing a beat.

Bonnie crouched in front of Damon, not really sure what he had in mind when suddenly he whispered, "Now." She turned her head to look at him incredulously, "What?!"

"Go. Now!" he hissed back and shoved her forward. She fell out from the side of the house. What was Damon doing? She thought, panicking slightly. Even if she had wanted to dive back into hiding she couldn't have. Mason had already spotted her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously, surprised by her sudden appearance. She tried not to look in Damon's direction. She was a witch. She could handle herself. She lifted her chin slightly and smiled innocently at him, "I'm one of Tyler's friends. I was wondering if you knew where he was."

He ignored her, still looking around himself and then took a couple of steps in her direction and towards the side of the house. Damon was swatting his hand in front of his face trying to get her to lead him away from his hiding spot. "How did you get here? There's no car…"

"Um..." she panicked, interrupted him and stepped quickly towards him, blocking his way forward, "My friend, Elena dropped me off. We have a project due next week and I was working with him. If he isn't here could I come up and get it... please?" She could see Damon rolling his eyes and putting his head on his knee at her bad acting. She gritted her teeth, irritated, and smiled again towards Mason. He still looking extremely suspicious, squinting sideways at her.

"I'll be really quick I swear." She said quickly. He was just starting to nod in agreement when the unexpected happened. Damon's phone went off. Bonnie froze, and Mason stopped mid-nod. "What's that?"

Before she could shout, "Just my phone," He had shoved her aside. Damon probably could have sprinted around the back of the house before Mason turned the corner, but Bonnie reacted first, shooting a hand out at him, grimacing when he yelled out and fell to the ground clutching at his head. She glared at Damon, "You never silenced your phone? What is wrong with you!?"

"Wha' s… going on." Mason groaned out between clenched teeth. Damon swiftly and efficiently knocked him out without even glancing down at the werewolf. "This works better actually." He smiled snidely at her and flipped the phone to his ear, getting to his feet, "Hello?" he said in an annoying sing song voice, and turning away from Bonnie. He suddenly swung around to look at her though, with a, "Oh hello Jenna."

Bonnie's eyes widened and she shook her head at him. "Elena?" he continued, "Nope. I haven't seen her today. Why?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took so long. Happy New Year **

Chapter 3

Bonnie sighed in relief, but his next question repeated from Jenna caused her to frown in confusion. Why was she asking where I am? She wondered. She was expecting Damon to go along with his "know nothing" policy but she didn't see the mischievous smile spread across his lips.

"Bonnie? O yea. She's with me." Bonnie jumped slightly in alarm. That jackass!

"O don't worry. She's helping me clear some books out of the Salvatore house. No biggie."

He hung up soon after, and turned from where he had paced to smile at Bonnie. Her murderous glare seemed to amuse him more than anything. She took a step forward and shoved him. The shove alone would have sent Jeremy to the ground, but Damon didn't even sway. He smirked down at her when she hid her embarrassment in a growl of rage, "What is wrong with you!? Why did you do that? You knew I told her I was hanging out with Elena." He only laughed at her raising his hands up, mocking innocence, "Hey I told you that lie would end badly." She punched him in the shoulder, not caring that it would hurt her more than him, and turned on her heel to stalk to Mason's car. Climbing in and slamming the door, she waited for Damon to throw the unconscious werewolf in the trunk himself. She was driving. Damon was unreliable.

…

Today was total and utter chaos, Alaric paced back and forth cursing slightly under his breath and trying not to panic as he scrolled through his contacts. Elena was gone. Bonnie and Jeremy were looking through the Grimoires at the old witch house, Caroline and Stefan were trying to shut Tyler up, Matt had just found out everything, and no one had seen him since last night. The Sherriff thought there was another vampire on the loose, which until a few moments ago was sort of a lie. And now Elena had freed the original formerly lying shriveled up in the basement, and was who knows where. He was supposed to be watching out for her, protecting her from any attempts Klaus might make to kidnap the doppelganger, but Alaric had never expected she'd be the one kidnapping.

He was debating who to call, or whether to call anyone. Elena had written a note for him, saying she left on her own free will, that she was fine, and asking him if he'd please wait a little before alerting the guard dogs. Alaric scrolled between Stefan and Damon in his contacts, deftly avoiding the little ornamental tables placed around the room. ?. The phone buzzed in his hand. Damon. Damon wanted him to "distract Jenna". Now he was even more lost. How did Jenna get involved? If Elena wasn't here anymore there was no reason for him to stay. He called Jenna.

The phone rang but once and was picked up.

"Hello." Jenna's voice came across the connection excitedly, "Alaric! Hey."

"Hey. I have to go to the Council Hall. I heard it was your birthday. Do you want to go with me? We can go by the Mystic Grill on the way back and get some drinks. On me?" He tilted his head to the side waiting for her answer.

"Yea! Yea I'd love that. In fact I can't find Jeremy or Elena. You're the first to acknowledge my birthday."

Alaric laughed slightly with her, "Well Happy Birthday. I'll come get you if you want on my way. I'm at the Salvatore house at the moment…"

"Oh!" she practically yelled in his ear, "Bonnie! Is she there?"

"Uh..." Alaric turned around quickly, scanning the room he was in as if hoping she would suddenly make her presence known. He hated lying to Jenna, but he wasn't sure where Bonnie was, or why he was supposed to distract Jenna. "No. I haven't seen her all day. I'm helping Damon with some books on history." He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, hoping she bought it.

"Damon huh?" There was a darker edge to her tone this time. She sounded angry. "Can I speak to him?"

What? "Damon? Um sorry he already left, to take the books to the council." Gosh he was piecing this story together with duct tape and thumb tacks. With how much went into lying to Jenna, he was pretty sure she could handle the truth. He collapsed onto a nearby couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose, while the line got ridiculously quiet.

"Fine. But if you see him, you tell him I'm looking for him." She finally said.

He laughed nervously. Serves Damon right, he thought. "I'll come by in about a half an hour."

They said a quick, "bye" and then hung up. It was quiet in the Salvatore house, as he stared blankly at the wall across from him thinking, the phone held loosely next to him. He was taking a pause. Everything was still. Everything was silent. And suddenly, BAM! The front door was thrown open, and the door knob hit the wall. Rick startled uncharacteristically, leaping to his feet, he dropped the phone, instinctually yanking a stake gun from around his forearm and pointing it at the open entrance.

"It's just us." Stefan said calmly, raising a free hand up from under Tyler Lockwood's shoulders. Caroline, upon seeing the stake gun pointed at them had raced back behind the brick wall of the house. Rick lowered the gun, and, shocked, hurried over to open the door wider and stare down at the unconscious teenager they were lugging into the mansion. "You knocked him out?" he nearly yelled, feeling the stress of everything piling up. Stefan dropped Tyler, a little less than softly onto the couch, obviously irritated. He stood back up, clapping his hands and turning back around. A sheepish expression flitting across his face, before mock humor took over, "Well we didn't plan it that way. He wouldn't cooperate."

Rick stared at the quickly healing gash on the werewolf's forehead, "Again. So you knocked him out?"

Caroline stepped in this time, "No. Jeez, he knocked himself out."

Alaric frowned at the two of them, "That doesn't really paint the whole picture for me. A werewolf knocked himself out?" he scoffed. That sounded ridiculous, "Aren't supernatural beings supposed to be graceful. What happened to enhanced reflexes and coordination?"

Stefan walked around the back of the couch leaving the werewolf there, as he talked over his shoulder, "He was panicked, and reflexes, coordination, and grace don't always trump an uneven carpet, and untied shoe laces." He shrugged pulling the stopper out of the liquor that had been sitting on it's designated table. "But we might have a bit of a problem…"

Alaric raised his eyebrow, sarcastically wondering which problem he was referring too at the moment. "Why? What happened?"

"He called Jewels. I think the call went through too. The phone was behind his back the whole time and she might have caught some of what I was telling him. I don't know if they would come here but if she did pick up, they will most definitely be coming for him." He pointed to Tyler with his glass.

"Then why did you bring him here? Wouldn't it just be easier to leave him alone, and worry about the wolves _after_ we solve the whole Elena being sacrificed thing." Stefan was already shaking his head.

"He already knew a lot. After what I just told him before … you know…" Stefan raised his free hand indicating the gash on Tyler's forehead. Alaric thought there was a hint of guilt in his expression. "I thought it would be safer if we just kept him out of the way for the time being. It took forever for him to sit down and listen, and then when I noticed the cell phone he tried to make a run for it, like we were out for his blood or something. He was panicking like I said, stepped on his shoe lace, tripped over the rug, and ran into the corner of a bookshelf."

Caroline put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, "You helped! I saw you push him into it! No wonder he doesn't trust any of us." She glared at Stefan.

"Ok I did." Stefan said irritated, both eye brows narrowed, "At that point I realized there was no talking sense, so I gave him a little extra momentum. He'll be fine, Caroline. He'll get over it."

"That's not the point Stefan!" she exclaimed, "It was a very Damon move..."

Stefan rolled his eyes, then snorted, "Damon wouldn't have been that patient, but fine, I apologize for helping him knock himself out."

"It's not me you should apologize too." Caroline muttered grumpily, arms crossed, "And you are _not _putting him in the basement with Elijah!" Neither of them saw the grimace Alaric made at that comment.

There was a knock at the front door. All three of them turned to stare at it. Who would knock? If it was Jewels and the werewolves wouldn't they just attack first and ask entrance later? Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, Damon. They would all just enter. Stefan approached the door, and opened it a crack peaking out first to see who it was. The door opened wider, and John came stomping in, looking furious, "Where is Damon?" he demanded. Stefan turned to Alaric, frowning, "Where _is_ Damon?"

Alaric shrugged, "It seems to be a reoccurring question."

…

Something was definitely going on, Jenna thought putting the cell phone on the coffee table in front of the couch she was sitting on. Bonnie had lied about where Elena was, and Damon had lied about where Bonnie was. She was beginning to believe it was her duty as the guardian of her sister's kids, to find out what they were doing. The voice of the school's dead history teacher was coming back to haunt her. "_It's an impossible job isn't it? Raising two teens?" _ He had asked her, "_Anything less and you're not doing it properly." _Those words had nagged at her for a couple weeks after that meeting.

Then, Alaric acts strange and probably just lied to her about where Damon was. Why would Rick lie to her about something like that? She was nervously walking around the house peaking out the window every other minute. She checked her phone again. It was nearly forty five minutes since he called, and he hadn't shown up.

Finally feeling cooped up and antsy, she left for the Council on her own, hoping to either run into Damon so she could give him a piece of her mind, or Alaric if he was just late, and maybe get some answers.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this is so short.

CH. 4

Jenna drove her car all the way to the city hall, in favor of making her way to the Salvatore house. She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to try here first. Pulling into the parking space, she quickly got out of her car purse over her shoulder, and headed for the front steps.

The inside of the building was bustling with activity. Had Rick said there was a meeting? She wandered around looking for the sheriff, thinking that was probably the best place to start, and if she ran into Alaric or Damon all the better. Jenna wandered through most of the building, cautiously opening doors, the rooms to which were all empty. She couldn't find anyone anywhere. There was no telltale stack of books or whatever it was Rick had said they were doing, and she couldn't find the Sheriff, no matter who she asked.

Jenna had circled the entire first floor of the building, where all the activity seemed to be, and had made it back to the front door. She sighed, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder. So it would seem there was no council meeting, or perhaps she had just missed them. She didn't know what to believe. Dejectedly, she began to turn to leave, when she hesitated glancing back down the hallway once more. Not knowing what made her do it, Jenna approached the corner one last time to look out over the crowd. She stepped forward, but before she foot touched the ground, she was shoved back a step, by a furious blonde boy. Gasping slightly in shock, she turned around to watch his retreating back as he stalked out the front door. Jenna didn't see Sherriff Forbes following in pursuit

"Matt! Matt get back here, right now!" the sheriff came storming around Jenna chasing after the blond whose jaw was set in determination as he let the door shut behind him. Jenna followed after them, surprised by their sudden appearance. She shut the door and jogged down the steps, before stopping. The sheriff had Matt shoved against some car, attempting to block his way to his own, "listen to me!" she was yelling at him, "I know ok, but you need to calm down." Jenna felt like she was eavesdropping, but wasn't sure whether to call them out either. Finally gathering up her courage, she was here for a reason right, she called out from the steps cautiously.

"Sheriff Forbes!" The sheriff startled a bit, and released Matt. Jenna remembered him now. Wasn't he Elena's old boyfriend? He jerked around, his normally warm kind blue eyes, were now decidedly cool and distant. He stayed there, rigid but calmer now. "Is everything ok?"

The sheriff nodded, smiling but it didn't really reach her eyes, "Of course, Jenna. Did you need something?"

"Um yes. I feel a little ridiculous because.. Well, ultimately I've been trying to find Elena. Have either of you seen her?" Jenna stepped off the last stare walking closer. She raised her eyebrows in question. Both of them shook their heads, Matt glaring at the ground.

"No I haven't seen her in a couple of days." Matt admitted. Jenna thought she could detect some bitterness in the statement but ignored it in preference of continuing her questioning.

The sheriff didn't say anything.

"What about Bonnie?"

Again they shook their heads.

"Damon? Alaric? Jeremy?"

Matt scoffed, the steely determination intensifying in his eyes. The sheriff shot him a warning look. "I talked to Damon just this morning, but I haven't seen or heard from him since."

Jenna frowned, "You mean they haven't brought the books here yet?"

Forbes tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Books?" she asked, "What books?"

Jenna started to explain, then stopped with a sigh, waved her hand and said, "nevermind". Another lie it seemed. She then remembered someone else involved, "What about John?"

They both shook their heads again, and Jenna's shoulders slumped, that last grasp of hope slipping away. She didn't know what was going on, but what started as a nagging question and curiosity, was now becoming full blown worry. If this all turned into a surprise party, she didn't know if she would feel even more foolish, or be really, really angry. "Oh well." She sighed, bouncing her shoulders up and down somewhat self deprecatingly, "thanks anyway." She waved and turned to leave when Matt suddenly called out, "Happy Birthday by the way!" She smiled in gratitude towards him. The fact he remembered her birthday over all this time was heart- warming, even if she was just his ex girlfriend's aunt. Getting into her car, she sighed yet again staring blankly out over a little park across the way. There wasn't anything else for it, she decided, she was just going to have to go to the Salvatore house.

Meanwhile, Alaric was trying to find the right time to slip away and call Jenna. Before he noticed, time had gotten away from him and an hour had passes by. The guilt was crawling up his throat it felt, but every time he went to find some privacy someone new would burst through the doors. He still hadn't told anyone about Elena, and they now had two werewolves unconscious, one still on the couch and beginning to wake up, and the other in a different room tied to a chair.

Moments ago, in the middle of Stefan yelling at Damon, Jeremy had burst through the door yelling, "I found something!" It would have been almost comical, if Alaric wasn't suffering from an absolutely pounding headache, and stress from everything else.

Damon smirked condescendingly at his brother, as if to say "what are you gonna do about it now, huh?" before disappearing into a hallway. Stefan growled pinching the bridge of his nose, and turned to Jeremy, "What did you find?"

"Hey, why didn't you answer any of my calls?" Jeremy asked off handedly, sounding only curious, weaving around the couch a great tome held up in his hands.

"Just.. let me see." Stefan said, holding out his hand for the book.


End file.
